Quarter Three Independent Reading

The Factor of Uncertainty

Quarter Three Independent Reading

The Factor of Uncertainty

Patriot Reign

The book Patriot Reign is all about the journey that the New England Patriots had, starting in Bill Belichick's early year . The Patriots were a team of winners, but they always had their doubts. Would the season go as well as the last? Would the draft picks be as good as they hoped? No matter how good a football team is, there is always doubt and uncertainty in the back of the mind. Bill has a famous quote that he uses all the time, "Do your job," which basically means do what you have to do to win, and do whatever it takes to feel confident in your decisions. The book describes how they make all of these decisions, and how managers and coaches try to eliminate all of the uncertainty that the team feels throughout the year.

2000 Draft

One of the biggest uncertainties for the patriots was the pick of Tom Brady. He was a great quarterback in college, but nobody really thought anything of him. He was put on the team as a 4th string, which basically means hes two steps below the backup quarterback. Essentially, he was a nobody and nobody knew what was going to come of him. Surprisingly enough, Brady worked hard enough and eventually became the backup quarterback, a step below the starter. This is where the uncertainty really hit a high note.

The Beginning of a Legend

The hit shown in the video above was both horrific and useful. Drew Bledsoe, the man in the video was the Patriots starting quarterback, who was smashed by a Jets defensive man, nearly killing him. He was taken out of the game and survived, but he did leave a spot open. Who took that spot? Tom Brady. Nobody knew what to expect from the young man in his first NFL game, and in the beginning he didn't show much. But in the games that followed, all of the uncertainty went away. Brady became known as the comeback kid, winning games nobody expected him to win. Slowly but surely, he became a legend.

Super Bowl Champs

The final point of the super bowl came from an amazing kick by the Patriots kicked, Adam Vinatieri. The uncertainty was at its height, either the kick was made and they win, or they miss and they lose. The ball was kicked, and the announcer for the game said the following "The kick is up and it is... good. It's good!" (Holley 80). The kick was made, and the patriots were super bowl champions. All the uncertainly left the room when Brady lifted the Super Bowl trophy above his head, showing that he was a world champion. There were no more doubts, only celebration and moving forward for the New England Patriots.

Schooled

New School, New uncertainty

Capricorn Anderson spent his entire life at Garland farm, a hippie community with two members, himself and his caretaker Rain. But when Rain fell out a tree and broke her hip, he could not stay at Garland anymore. He had to move on with a regular family for a time, with real world issues and real world experiences. Needless to say, the transition was not easy for Cap, and he encounters several situations that give him a sense of uncertainty, even in the first few days.

New home

Cap is used to a small, rundown house made up of wood and duct tape, so needless to say the transition was awkward. He also had to be able to adapt to a life where not everyone gets along at home, and there are problems. One of the biggest problem in the house was Sophie Donnelly, the daughter of Cap's caretaker. She despises Cap, and tries to do everything to make his life miserable. "How else is he going to get the message to clear out?(Korman 24). She wants nothing to do with Cap, and for him, he is uncertain about what life will be like moving forward

School Life

Not only was Cap uncertain about home, but at school as well. He never had real friends before, and being who he was it was not going to be easy to make them. He was the little awkward kid with the tie-die shirts and the sandals that nobody wanted to interact with. One kid that was friendly to Cap was Hugh Winkleman, the class nerd. Unfortunately he was only really friendly to Cap because everyone was picking on Cap now instead of him! "Even I could pick on a guy like that."(Korman 27). Although he is nice to Cap, he knows that all the attention is on Cap's strange lifestyle, and no longer on him.

Class president?

Most people would take getting nominated as class president to be a good thing, almost an honor. But at this middle school, it was the biggest sign of disrespect. It was common that the president ended up being the "biggest loser" in the school, and would get picked on even more so than they were before. "The eight grades has picked this computer genius... and got him elected just to make fun of him." (Korman 31). And of course the biggest social outcast at the time of this election was none other than Cap. He had no idea what it meant to be class president, in fact he was so uncertain about it that he didn't even know what the job even was! He has never heard of a class president before, this was all new to him. As the book goes on, the uncertainty slowly wears away, but when he first gets elected he has no idea whats going to happen.

New home

Cap is used to a small, rundown house made up of wood and duct tape, so needless to say the transition was awkward. He also had to be able to adapt to a life where not everyone gets along at home, and there are problems. One of the biggest problem in the house was Sophie Donnelly, the daughter of Cap's caretaker. She despises Cap, and tries to do everything to make his life miserable. "How else is he going to get the message to clear out?(Korman 24). She wants nothing to do with Cap, and for him, he is uncertain about what life will be like moving forward

School Life

Not only was Cap uncertain about home, but at school as well. He never had real friends before, and being who he was it was not going to be easy to make them. He was the little awkward kid with the tie-die shirts and the sandals that nobody wanted to interact with. One kid that was friendly to Cap was Hugh Winkleman, the class nerd. Unfortunately he was only really friendly to Cap because everyone was picking on Cap now instead of him! "Even I could pick on a guy like that."(Korman 27). Although he is nice to Cap, he knows that all the attention is on Cap's strange lifestyle, and no longer on him.

Class president?

Most people would take getting nominated as class president to be a good thing, almost an honor. But at this middle school, it was the biggest sign of disrespect. It was common that the president ended up being the "biggest loser" in the school, and would get picked on even more so than they were before. "The eight grades has picked this computer genius... and got him elected just to make fun of him." (Korman 31). And of course the biggest social outcast at the time of this election was none other than Cap. He had no idea what it meant to be class president, in fact he was so uncertain about it that he didn't even know what the job even was! He has never heard of a class president before, this was all new to him. As the book goes on, the uncertainty slowly wears away, but when he first gets elected he has no idea whats going to happen.